Pieterse wins Lower State; Braves, Sharks in top five

Carolina Forest High junior Lisa Pieterse captured girls medalist honors at the Lower State Cross Country Championships on Saturday, and three local teams earned top-five finishes.

Pieterse (17:47.92) beat her closest competitor to the finish line by more than a minute to easily claim the Lower State crown at the Sandhills Research Center 5K course in Columbia.

The Socastee girls captured third place with a total score of 110, and St. James (120) was close behind in fifth. The Socastee boys (156), led by Christopher Matlashewski’s (18:10.03) 29th-place showing, also finished fifth as all three teams advance to next week’s state meet.

The Lady Braves were led by Crystal Shimer (20:00.35) and Jill Dudley (20:00.71), who finished fourth and fifth place, respectively. The Lady Sharks were led by sisters Samantha (20:36.02) and Christine Cunningham (20:36.35), who ran near identical times to place 13th and 14th.

Individually, North Myrtle Beach sisters Benjamin (19:49.69) and Drake Jenerette (19:57.97) claimed second and third, respectively, to qualify for the state meet. Myrtle Beach’s Ethan Epstein (17:16:18) finished eighth to earn a spot in next week’s state meet.